


Chances Are

by mmmdraco



Series: Uncertain Outcome [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Breaking Up & Making Up, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 13:05:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1606235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mmmdraco/pseuds/mmmdraco
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Stiles breaks up with Derek, there are five different people who try to tell him why that's stupid, and one who actually agrees.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chances Are

"No." Stiles got into his Jeep, trying to slam the door behind him only to have Scott grab onto it, holding it open. "What the hell is your problem, Scott?"

Scott let out a long sigh, looking at Stiles' face as the other man started up his vehicle. "You should see Derek. He's miserable."

Stiles put on his seat belt and stared out the window in front of him, jaw tight. "He had his chance, Scott. He blew it."

"But you were so happy with him! Doesn't he deserve a second chance?" Scott let a hopeful smile curl the corners of his lips.

Letting his fingers edge against the door of the Jeep, Stiles shrugged. "That _was_ his second chance, Scott." He jerked the door shut, trying not to enjoy Scott's surprised expression too much, and shifted in to drive and started to put distance between them.

* * *

"I don't get it," Lydia said thoughtfully over the phone to Stiles later that evening. "I mean, you were hardcore gone on him for months and then he actually gave you the time of day and all of that. What did he do that was so bad you can't forgive him?"

Stiles scribbled down the answer to a math problem then let his pencil drop. "He didn't do anything bad. He just never did anything good. The only difference between dating Derek and not dating Derek is sex. Do you realize how confused my dick gets when I don't know if he's throwing me against a wall because he wants sex or because he's angry that I tried to help?"

Letting out a chuckle, Lydia rustled some papers of her own. "Look, boys are stupid, yourself included sometimes. Derek has this whole long past of pain and anguish that you have to deal with."

"That's the thing, though. I don't actually have to, Lydia. I've got enough of my own stuff to deal with. I can't carry anymore emotional baggage, especially it I wasn't the one who packed it up anyway." He picked up his pencil again and glared at the next math problem. "Hey, that first word problem, I need to take the integral of that first, right?"

Lydia hummed a low note for a moment. "As long as that's the one asking about the overhang of the building. I'm doing my nails so I haven't gotten there yet. You should at least explain to Derek why you're not giving him another chance, by the way."

Stiles rolled his eyes. "What is it with you people? I gave him a chance and talked to him when things weren't going well and then I gave him another chance and things just got worse. A few happy moments that usually happen when we're around friends doesn't mean that we just need a coffee date in order for things to be perfect."

"You need the sex, though. Do you realize how bitchy you get when you're not getting any?" Lydia huffed out a breath at him over the phone.

Fingers gripping the phone tightly, Stiles shook his head. "It's not worth it to me. Not right now." He ran a hand through his hair. "I've got to get dinner started so I'm gonna go. Bye, Lydia." He hung up the phone before he could hear anything else she might have to say.

* * *

"Dad, I thought you'd be glad I wasn't dating Derek anymore," Stiles said as he stabbed a green bean.

Pushing his own green beans around on his plate, the sheriff shrugged one shoulder. "I am, kind of. He's older, a werewolf, and all of those things I never wanted for you. But, you very obviously wanted them for yourself and I do try not to get in your way. Is that why you broke up with him? Because you didn't think I had your approval?"

Cutting apart his chicken breast, Stiles shook his head. "No. We're both just kind of too damaged to be good for each other right now and it hurts more than it's worth."

"I hate to state the obvious here, but how do you know what it's worth if you haven't given it your everything?" Shoving some of the green beans in his mouth, the sheriff chewed heartily while giving Stiles a pointed look.

Stiles licked his lower lip and set his fork down. "Everyone keeps assuming that I didn't do enough. That, somehow, it's on me to give him another chance and to go to him to explain things. Why doesn't anyone seem to care that I called it off because it hurt too much? Why can't that be the end of it?" He pushed his seat back from the table and tossed his napkin down beside his half-full plate. "Pack your own lunch for tomorrow and don't skimp on the vegetables. I'm going for a drive." He walked away, surprised at the calm within him.

* * *

"Not you, too," Stiles said as he happened to meet Scott's mom at the gas station, recognizing the look she was giving him as the same one Scott had given him earlier.

She started to pump her gas, leaning against the side of her car. "I'm all for it, Stiles. Sometimes relationships just don't work and staying in them is the worst thing you can do. You can do better than Derek Hale and I can do better than Scott's dad."

Stiles squeezed the gas pump a few times before the flow really kicked in. "If it weren't for everything that's happened in the last few years, it might have been different. Maybe I could have been enough-"

"Whoa!" Melissa let her gas pump click off as she stepped over the hose, walking toward him. "Is that what this is? You don't think you're enough for him? Honey, if you were significantly older, I'd consider you a catch myself. If that's why you left..."

Rubbing at his eyes with his free hand, Stiles shook his head. "I just... I'm 18. I have had a grand total of one actual relationship and that's the one with Derek and he doesn't exactly have a stellar record behind him. I just wanted to leave before it meant feeling like even more of my soul's been ripped out. He was there to help me put back the pieces after the whole nogitsune thing, but that's doesn't seem like the basis of a healthy relationship."

Melissa ran her hand along Stiles' arm. "It's up to you. But, it's kind of a dick move not to let him know just how final it is."

Stiles sucked his upper lip into his mouth, holding it there for a moment. "I'm afraid I'm going to give in when I see him. I do have feelings for the jerk and we had some great times together, but if that was enough I would've been with Lydia Martin."

Holding up one finger, Melissa squinted at him. "Except for the bit about Derek actually liking you that way."

Putting back the gas pump, Stiles took his receipt and turned to Melissa. "I'll think about it." He hopped into the Jeep after giving her a little wave, driving off quickly into the night.

* * *

Somehow, he ended up at Jungle with Danny, dancing and trying to lose himself in the music. When a tall blond guy approached him and started to dance behind him, Stiles grinned and pressed back against him only to pull away at the dirty look Danny gave him. Danny pulled himself away from his own dance partner and pushed through the throng of people to grab Stiles' arm, pulling him toward a corner. "Dude, what the hell?"

"What?" Stiles shrugged. "I'm a free man, Danny. Free men can dance with whoever they want." He paused, considering his words. "Right?"

Danny shook his head. "Dancing is fine, but you're not ready for something new when you're so caught up in what you had."

"Maybe I just want some rebound sex," Stiles said, awkwardly adjusting his shirt.

"You want to ignore the problem and make it go away. It's classic you, but how often has that actually worked?" Danny patted his shoulder roughly. "Go dance with your girls for tonight and maybe next week we can get Lydia to dress you so you actually have a little game."

Stiles' heart seemed to catch in his throat at that because it was like being told that he had potential. Potential was what teachers said about students who weren't even trying. And maybe, just maybe, Stiles wasn't. He turned to Danny with a frown and said softly, "I'm going to go talk to him. I'll see you Monday." He left without Danny trying to stop him.

* * *

Holding up his key to Derek's loft, Stiles took a deep breath and let himself in, putting the key down on the coffee table and glancing around. "Derek?"

The man in question took a few steps out from the darkness, his fingers worrying at the ends of his sleeves, and nodded gruffly at Stiles. "Just returning the key? Thanks."

"I'm no good for you and you're no good for me," Stiles said suddenly. "We don't need to be seeing each other, Derek. We need to be seeing therapists or something."

Derek swallowed roughly, staying to his side of the room. "I know. I've got an appointment on Monday. Deaton put me in touch with someone."

"You..." Stiles brought his hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "I thought you said you could deal with your problems yourself."

Gripping the door frame with one hand, Derek shrugged. "If that were true, things would've worked out differently."

Stiles gestured toward Derek, but froze before the motions could turn to words. He stared at Derek in the semi-darkness for a while, only their breathing making sounds. "I didn't want to hurt you, Derek. But I was getting hurt."

"You were right to dump me, Stiles. I can't be the person you need right now." He let his fingers tighten against the wood of the door frame, his gaze not quite meeting Stiles'.

The various conversations of the day all seem to roll through Stiles' head, leaving him reeling. "For now. Maybe... maybe we just tried this too soon. Maybe we just need to make a plan. I'm about to head off for college anyway and we both need to get our lives and thoughts together. Maybe in a few years, it'll really click like it always felt like it was supposed to."

Inhaling sharply, Derek nodded his head just enough for Stiles to notice. "You'll find someone else in that time. I might, too."

"So, we'll keep in touch and figure it out as we go along. If we get to my graduation day and neither of us are seeing anyone, then we'll try again. And if we're not single, we'll be happy for the other person."

"You shouldn't have come here." Derek pushed away from the door frame, walking closer to Stiles. "I told everyone to tell you to stay away."

Rolling his eyes, Stiles found himself taking a few steps toward Derek. "That is the exact opposite of what everyone tried to tell me." 

Derek's hands came up to grip Stiles' arms, his face dark with shadows. "Are you still planning to try to graduate early?"

"Yeah," Stiles said softly, licking at his lower lip. "I have enough AP credits that I'm looking at three years, two and a half if I stay for summer classes."

His throat rolling with his rough swallowing, Derek leaned slightly closer. "Two and a half years is nothing."

Stiles smiled softly. "A lot can happen in two and a half years."

Derek leaned forward until his forehead was pressed against Stiles'. "A lot can happen in a few moments."

Pulling back, Stiles pressed his lips against Derek's temple for a long moment before pulling back. "I'm not giving you a second chance or a third chance or whatever chance it is we're on." He tilted Derek's chin upward slightly and brushed their lips together quickly. "But, just for you, I'll give you a whole new first chance."

Moving quickly, Derek pulled Stiles into a bruising embrace, holding him close and tightly. "That's more than I deserve."

Stiles buried his face in Derek's neck. "Nah," he whispered softly. "We'll both deserve it in two and a half years."

Derek smiled softly, letting his hands fall and catch at Stiles'. "If it takes you longer, I'll still be here, you know."

"Shh." Stiles smirked, kicking out at Derek's foot with one of his own while their fingers twined together. "You're not supposed to take away my motivation."


End file.
